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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Went birding this weekend in northern NH and here are some photos of a Blackpoll Warbler that we found on top of Cannon Mt., NH. This is a cool warbler, that nests in spruce-fir forests and has a VERY high-pitched song, above some people's hearing range.
Gray sky, backlit, dense forest, very challenging conditions and I took these photos with my new Canon SX 40 point and shoot superzoom, with lens at full digital zoom as the bird was far away, hence not top quality photos, still.... I am still learning what this camera can do.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

I'm on the NH Audubon birdathon fundraiser today, doing a big sit category in our yard and just got this photo of a young Northern Saw-whet Owl in our owl nesting box, too cool!!!
Ok, back to the birdathon.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

This morning, weather dreary and it had been raining. Went with Don and the Corgis around our big field. Took the Canon SX 40 HS, just to see what it could do in the dim light. The Canada Geese have babies already.

Tree Swallow was resting and drying

Aren't they all cute! (Abby on the left, Phoebe on the right)

This is not that good an image, but I use it as an example of what the camera can do at full digital zoom (way beyond the 840 mm optical zoom) and a very difficult situation of a moving bird, dim light and obscured by foliage. ISO 400 1/125 f 8. For all of these images, I only sharpened them a bit, nothing else. I am continuously experimenting with this camera and trying different settings. One of the fun things is you can take scenics, close-ups and far zooms, all with one little lightweight camera with you.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Beautiful, male, Rose-breasted Grosbeak at our feeder. Can't get enough of this bird. Attract them with sunflower seed and a feeder with a wide enough ledge or perch to accommodate their size. These birds (as well as many warblers, vireos, thrushes and more) are migrating through many places now. Photo taken with my new Canon SX 40 HS camera.

We've been birding every chance we get, since this is peak migration time for much of the middle and northern parts of the country. In the East, warblers are coming through big time. Get out and go birding, even in between raindrops, as many birds will stay grounded during rain. Check your own property, as well as known birding hotspots near you. Here are some of the beautiful warblers we have been seeing.

Blackburnian Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

This weekend we are participating in the NH Audubon Birdathon fundraiser, where participants try and see how many species they can see in a day. Hope the skies clear and there are lots of migrants. Wish us luck!

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

We migrated back from FL to NH, just like the birds are doing. Summer Tanagers were flooding into FL on migration. Eastern Bluebirds have a nest with eggs already, here in NH. These photos were taken with my new little Canon SX 40 HS camera, which I am still learning about and has a lot of potential. It's nowhere near as good at my Canon 1D Mark IV, but then it shouldn't be, given the price difference (about $400 for the SX 40 vs. about $5000 for the Mark IV). Bluebird photo taken at 800 ISO.

Don and Lillian Stokes

Don and Lillian Stokes

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Welcome to Stokes Birding Blog where we will bring you great information about birds and birding, bird photography, feature Lillian's beautiful bird photos, update you on what's happening with birds and keep you in touch with what's going on with the Stokes.